Growing in Faith
I always enjoy it when we begin Mass with “All Are Welcome.” It’s an important part of St. Gertrude’s philosophy to welcome people from various backgrounds into our parish community. We even dedicated an evening of song to this idea in late January. And at this weekend’s Masses, through Allen Stryczek’s efforts, we begin our Greeters Ministry, welcoming people at each Mass.But how can we expand this wonderful message and practice it in other parts of our lives? How can we welcome newcomers to the block or neighborhood where we live, or even to our country? This “All are Welcome” message gets tougher when we move outside our parish walls. On a national level, do we welcome immigrants to our country who come for the opportunity to improve their lives?
Welcoming others can get tougher at a neighborhood level. Do we welcome the homeless shelter in our community? Affordable housing? Or even new neighbors who don’t look or act quite like us?
Today in Deuteronomy we hear “My father was a wandering Aramean who went to Egypt and lived there as an alien. When the Egyptians maltreated us, God saw our affliction. He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and bringing us into this country, he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.”
This week at the credit union where I work, we began a new program to offer loans to cover the cost of the application for immigrants applying for citizenship. Called the “New Americans Loan Program,” it is an opportunity for me to take what we preach here at St. Gertrude’s and practice it in the workplace.
Like Allen tries here at St. Gertrude’s with the Greeters Ministry, what more can we do to ensure that everyone, particularly those that might not be like us, are welcome? To put into practice not only in our parish, but in our family, our neighborhood, our workplace, and our country: “Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face; let us bring an end to fear and danger: All are welcome in this place.”
Ed Jacob for Growing in Faith
Filed under: Growing In Faith
